1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing device and an imaging device, and a method and program for controlling these devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there is a technique of transferring image data included in a camera to a connected device, such as a printer, a PC or the like, by directly operating the camera. In particular, a procedure for transmitting and receiving image data when a printer and a camera are connected to each other is standardized as “PictBridge” by the Camera and Imaging Products Association (CIPA). Some cameras have a specific button for using the PictBridge function.
Moreover, an attempt has been made to create functions that can be performed by direct connection with a camera, in addition to simple printing via connection to a printer (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2005-123922 and 2005-313392).
Incidentally, an input/output means for an external storage device on a network is called a network storage or a distributed file system. Examples of such a means include the Network File System (NFS) employed in a UNIX (registered trademark)-based network and the Common Internet File System (CIFS) employed in a Windows (registered trademark)-based network. The Server Message Block (SMB) protocol, and the Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV), which is defined as an expanded WWW technique on the Internet, are also included therein.
Moreover, the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) provides specifications, assuming that image/audio distribution is used on a home network. The DLNA strictly defines an image/audio codec and a media transfer protocol based on the UPnP specifications (including the UPnP AV specifications) so as to improve connectivity.
The DLNA's home network connection technique is directed to distribution of images and audio stored in an HDD recorder or a PC's storage device (storage). The DLNA defines the specifications of a media server device for providing image data, a media renderer device for reproducing and displaying image data, and the like. In addition, a media player device obtained by adding a control point function to the media renderer device is also defined by the DLNA.
However, it is not easy to directly operate image data stored in an external storage device using a camera. Particularly, in recent years, when a large amount of image data captured by a camera is stored in an external storage device, it is more difficult to operate the image data using the camera since the storage capacity of the camera is smaller than that of the external storage device.